Naruto of the Shikon: Shodai Rokudaime
by qtar1984
Summary: Sequel to “Naruto of the Shikon” by LD 1449. In feudal Japan, 4500 years after the shinobi world fell to the Bijuu, Naruto sets out to rebuild Konoha and create a brighter future. Naruto x Inuyasha Crossover. Naruto/?, Inu/Kagome, Miroku/Sango and others.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, and I'm not making any money off of this. Also, I didn't write the original "Naruto of the Shikon", LD 1449 did, and LD doesn't own Naruto or Inuyasha either.

Summary: Sequel to "Naruto of the Shikon." In feudal Japan, 4500 years after the shinobi world fell to the Bijuu, Naruto sets out to rebuild Konoha and create a brighter future. Naruto x Inuyasha Crossover. Naruto, Inu/Kagome, Miroku/Sango and others.

Warning: Read "Naruto of the Shikon" first. Also this has major spoilers for both Naruto and Inuyasha.

Naruto of the Shikon – Shodai Rokudaime

By - qtar1984

Beta – LD 1449

* * *

Prologue:

Four wolf yokai accompanied by fifty wolves ran east through an unfamiliar forest, tracking more familiar scents. One was the scent of an implacable enemy to all of the wolves. One was the scent of a rival to the leader of the wolf yokai. Another was the scent of a person dear to that same wolf. There were other scents that he knew, and one other that he did not.

This wolf was also annoyed at how slow he was in comparison to his former speed yet glad for the weapon that was now embedded within the flesh of his right hand because it would serve him better against his enemy than mere speed. His four fellow wolf yokai were actually glad for their leader's loss of speed because they could now keep pace with him.

Now the leader could see the ruins of a great city, its architecture unfamiliar to him as the forest around him. He furrowed his brows as he wondered just where he was. Suddenly he felt a great surge of a youki that he did not recognize. Seconds later a great swarm of lesser yokai began to fly away from the city in all directions as if fleeing the power the wolf had felt.

The wolf yokai recognized the swarm as being that of his hated enemy and increased his speed as far as his legs could take him. In spite of not having the speed he once possessed he still managed to outpace his companions somewhat. He wanted to know if his precious person was still alive. He could not smell her blood but he felt desperate all the same.

He and his companions entered the ruins through the great, broken gate on the city's east side. The kanji on its side had faded into illegibility.

The lesser yokai were nearly all gone by now and the head wolf yokai wondered why they did not attack him as they must know that he is an enemy of their master. The smell of his precious person and her companions grew stronger and he could now see them as specs in the distance.

He could see that behind them was a large, shear cliff side with the ruined carvings of giant faces and near them was a great, leaning tower that had faded with the ages.

They seemed to be calling out a person's name as if in a search for someone important. As he and his companions drew closer he could begin to see the party before him clearly and they noticed him, though some had already noticed him and looked upon him with annoyance.

He could see the regal and unruffled figure of the Inu Daiyokai of the West, garbed in fine robes of white and red with a strangely large, white pelt that smelled as if it were a part of his body, and it was. He had entrancing yellow, slitted eyes. The beautiful and long silver-haired man was none other than Lord Sesshomaru.

Next to him stood a dark haired woman he hated nearly as much as his enemy. He thought to wield his new weapon against her as he saw the fan user in her white kimono. It was Kagura of the Wind.

Near those two was the two-headed dragon mount of Lord Sesshomaru, Ah-Un.

Then there were his precious person's usual companions. A young, brown haired monk that carried his signature staff and signature perversion was Miroku. The black haired and black armored female that was the last of the demon slayers stood next to Miroku and was named Sango.

Hovering above them was a large, light yellow two-tailed and fiery cat known as Kirara.

Then there was his rival, whom wore a red kimono top and loose red pants of firerat fur and an old and tarnished looking sword at his left hip. He had a head full of long silver hair that was less well kept than the other Inu yokai. It was Sesshomaru's younger, Inu-hanyou brother, Inuyasha.

And there next to him, was his precious person herself, Higurashi Kagome, who wore a strange white blouse with green trim, green skirt, white stockings, strange black leather shoes, and a red bow and half full quiver on her back.

It was, as he looked upon her, fully intent upon greeting her warmly when Inuyasha interrupted him.

"What the hell are you doing here Koga? I don't remember you being invited to this party," The hanyou snapped at him.

The black haired, animal skin wearing wolf yokai retorted "As if I should have to tell you, mutt, I smelled Naraku and his bugs over here so I went to check it out so I could kill him." He then brought the weapon out of his right hand's flesh. Goraishi (Five Thunder Fingers) was comprised of five conical claws that fit over his finger tips that were connected to a bracelet about his wrist by thin chains and exuded a strangely holy aura.

"He doesn't seem to be here now. What happened? Did you let him get away again," Koga said sneering at him.

"Actually Koga, it seems as though Naraku has been killed, but not by us" said Miroku, holding up his now void-less right palm.

"Well then, who did kill him?" Koga asked with a look of surprise that was shared by his companions, even the normal wolves.

Kagome decided to speak before Inuyasha could yell at him "That's what we want to know too, as well as where Naruto went."

"Naruto, isn't that the ningen ninja that was faster than you with your jewel shards Koga?" asked Ginta, one of his two Mohawk wearing comrades asked, the other one being Hakkaku.

Ayame, the fourth wolf yokai, a cute young redhead, widened her eyes slightly at the question.

"Yeah I think he is, but I still can't believe that he's really human, he just seems to be one."

"Now that's not a very nice thing to say," spoke the voice of the person in question as leaves began to swirl about behind the Inu gang.

Everyone turned around to face the newcomer and Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Kagura all exclaimed "Naruto!"

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto stood enjoying the surprise of his companions and the wolf yokai. He wore the white armor of the ANBU, the ANBU's black shirt and pants, two swords strapped to his back, a valuable green jewel about his neck, and a strip of black cloth tied about his forehead which bore a rectangular piece of metal with flame-like edges and the mark of a leaf with a spiral at its center that marked him as a ninja of Konoha. But what surprised his companions, aside from his sudden appearance, was what he wasn't wearing; the face-mask that had covered his face from below his eyes the entire time that any of them, save Sesshomaru, had known him. Now they could see that he bore a handsome visage, with a curious feature, three thin horizontal lines on each of his cheeks that resembled whiskers.

Their surprise only kept them silent for a few seconds before they began to bombard him with questions.

"Where were you?"

"Where's Naraku?"

"How did he die?"

"What happened?"

"Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

"What are those marks?"

Naruto raised a hand to halt their questions. "Alright, just hold it and I'll explain everything."

The group quieted and Naruto continued, "Since the others aren't here right now and I don't feel like repeating myself you can tell them about this yourselves later. I'll start at the beginning and I won't leave out any important details. For those of you that have just arrived," Naruto said looking at the wolf yokai, "Uh, any confusion that you guys have you can clear it up with them later. Naruto looked to the Inu group. "I told you why I had come to this time line, or better yet, what Midoriko had asked of me, but I never did explain just...why I accepted did I?"

"As you know, the demons in the Shikon were drawn to my time when I released the Kyuubi from its prison, thus exposing its power. None of you know what I meant by saying that I held the Kyuubi prisoner. What you have to understand is that the Bijuu were not always as intelligent as they were known to be to yourselves. They were once creatures of mere instinct."

"What are you on about? The nine aren't real, they're just myths used to scare young demons."

"Shows what you know wolf, we've actually met the damn Kyuubi herself," Inuyasha said with a smug smirk, happy to have gotten one over his rival.

"What? Don't expect me to believe that load of garbage," said Koga as he began to get annoyed.

"Stop it Koga. It's true, we have met her," Kagome protested, finally getting Koga to shut up, if only to stare at Kagome in surprise.

Naruto chuckled, "Now if you'll allow me, I'll continue my explanation." Naruto said, soon becoming serious once again. "The world they lived in was a world full of ninja that were far stronger than the humans of today. In fact, a small number of those ninja would rival the power of today's Daiyokai. On top of that, those ninja employed strategies and high levels of teamwork to defeat opponents many times their own strength. The nine Bijuu had to be strong enough to counter this with only an animal's level of intelligence and were thus tremendously powerful." He paused glancing with no small amount of trepidation at one of those aforementioned Daiyokai who was leveling a dangerous glare onto him.

Subtly taking a single step 'away' from the more regal of the two Inu's he continued. "However the brain of the humans was able to triumph over the immortal demons' brawn because the ninja had realized that even though it was not possible for them to kill the Bijuu, it was possible to harness their incredible powers. The shinobi had developed sophisticated sealing techniques that could be used to seal the tailed beast within human beings who were usually infants due to the fact that an undeveloped chakra or life energy network was needed for them to adapt to the demon's power. These humans were called Jinchuuriki. The human host had the intelligence to wield the demon's power more effectively and was thus usually stronger than the demon had been by itself. However, as the human hosts drew strength from the demons, the demons drew intellect from their hosts, becoming far more dangerous than before. The ninja dealt with this by extracting the demons that had been sealed and resealing them into other mediums to prevent them from running amok. Some Bijuu were never sealed into human host.

"However an organization called Akatsuki, began to collect the Bijuu, sealing them into a statue for some unknown purpose. The Bijuu that had been sealed within human hosts somehow shared intelligence with those that had not. The Akatsuki collected eight of the lesser Bijuu and then came for me, the container of the nine-tailed fox. This village we now stand in was my home, Konoha. The Akatsuki came here after we had just defeated an invading force of one of our other enemies."

"The Akatsuki was a group of nine S-Class criminals. S-Class ninja are about as strong as Lord Sesshomaru or myself, world-class shinobi that most would rather flee than face in battle. Weakened by the invasion, our forces lacked the strength to defeat them. We managed to kill six of them, but in the end I was the only shinobi left alive to face the last three. There was Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki. His woman, whose name I do not know but she could control paper to lethal effect. And then there was Uchiha Itachi a prodigal missing-nin of Konoha that killed his entire clan, save for his younger brother. Though they were weary from battle, so was I. I could not win." Naruto visibly paused, his eyes clouding with emotion for a moment before he shook it off.

"So...with my friends dead and me soon to follow...I decided I wouldn't go down alone and so removed the seal holding back the Kyuubi."

There was a tense silence as the group could see Naruto trying to collect both his thoughts and emotions before he continued speaking.

"I thought I would die from it but the Kyuubi prevented that so that I would suffer. I awoke latter and saw that Konoha was in ruins. It had been destroyed in the battle between the Kyuubi and the three remaining Akatsuki. I replaced my clothing and supplies before I noticed the Shikon jewel lying on the ground. I knew that it had not been there before and I knew that no one had put it there, so I picked it up. Suddenly I could see visions of this time; Midoriko fighting a horde of demons, the day Inuyasha was sealed to the tree, and all of Kagome and Inuyasha's adventures. It had been Midoriko that showed me the visions and she asked me to help you defeat Naraku and help Kagome and Kikyo beat their inner demons so that they could purify the sacred jewel. Then I was sent to help you... this you already know"

At this point Koga had to be visibly restrained by Ginta, Hakkaku and Ayame as the three were listening raptly to the tale, and not wanting to have it be interrupted by their fearless leader. Strangely, Ginta and Hakkaku were the ones crying. Though some, like Sesshomaru too wished to ask some questions he would reserve such things for the end of the Shinobi's tale, for if such things were true they were of great interest to him.

"Meanwhile, in the past the other shinobi countries went to war over the territories of Konoha, and its weakened ally Suna, as well that of Oto, the enemy that first invaded Konoha. The shinobi world was weakened in the confusion. It was totally unprepared for the assault by the released Bijuu, which had become more intelligent and worked together. On top of that, the Kyuubi opened the Makai gates, letting a flood of yokai into this world. None of the shinobi nations had ever predicted such a thing and so they were destroyed along with any trace of their once great civilization."

Naruto took a deep breath shaking his head before he continued.

"Kyuubi says that...years later she looked back on this and for the first time felt regret for her actions against me, for she had destroy the ninja world out of spite for me and thought I had committed suicide when she felt me disappear from the world. The other eight Bijuu saw this as a sign of weakness and tried to overthrow her and for the next two thousand years they broke the world in what would be known as the Bijuu Wars which the Kyuubi won, killing off the other Bijuu. Kyuubi closed the gates of the Makai and then slipped into obscurity."

"A few centuries ago, a time period which you all are familiar with, the Bijuu began to be reincarnated as demons began merging together to recreate the lesser eight of the nine."

Sesshomaru paused at that, though his father had still been alive at the time, and therefore the ruler of the lands he had heard of several demons in the north wreaking havoc, but had paid it no mind, subsequently those rumors ceased when rumors of the Shikon jewel began to emerge. Naruto's next sentence confirmed his suspicion.

"Fortunately, the priestess Midoriko was able to seal them within the Shikon jewel before they could reach maturity. You know the rest of the story except for the more recent events involving myself." Naruto allowed his eyes to travel over the group, who stared at him with a mixture of curiosity, pity and boredom...at least in Sesshomaru's case.

"After I killed Naraku's doll at the waterfall the Kyuubi attacked me and left me with a souvenir, one of her fangs. Later, after Kyuubi separated me from you, when Inuyasha wounded me" He ignored the Hanyou's wince. "I found Rin with Ah-Un and went to Totosai to commission the swords I now wear, Iroku no Hi (Will of Fire), to be made from the Kyuubi's fang as she had instructed me."

"When he completed the swords three days later, he told me that the blades had four abilities that I would instinctively know how to use. Then he warned me of Naraku's impending attack on Kagome and her friends. I ran over with Rin as fast as I could and managed to rescue you and fend off Naraku and So', which Kyuubi had given Naraku."

"She granted Naraku the So'unga?" Sesshomaru questioned. "That blade was banished into the lowest depths of hell; I suppose only one such as she could manage it." The Daiyokai said thoughtfully before he looked back to Naruto.

"Though it surprises me you would be foolish enough to trust one who so blatantly toys with those around her."

Naruto shrugged. "It's not like I had many options. Either obey and have a chance at living, or don't obey and piss her off...I believe it was safer to go with the first."

"Hn." Sesshomaru assented with a nod of his head, indeed the Kitsune was not one he would ever want to face again. She had defeated him so horribly; it made him feel like a pup in his first training session...truly...humbling.

Naruto cleared his throat as he continued his explanation.

"Afterward she had us meet him here in battle so that I would unlock the third and fourth powers of Iroku no Hi. The first two were an unbreakable barrier which you, Sesshomaru, and you Kagome have already seen and the Kitsune GoKa: Umi no Ho (Kitsune fire: Sea of flames). The battle with Naraku forced me to unlock the third power, which increased my speed and reaction time with a toned down version of the swords' fourth power, which I used when it seemed that Naraku, then powered by the complete Shikon Jewel, was going to kill all of you."

"What the hell is he on about? I don't remember that?" Inuyasha said to the others.

"What the hell are you on about?" Koga said as he was finally able to break free from the group of wolves. Naruto stared at them all in apathy before he looked to Inuyasha. "The reason you don't remember the event Inuyasha is because the fourth power is time travel."

The others of the group visibly reeled from the statement and stared at Naruto with a mixture shock and skepticism. Naruto held up a hand to stop their comments. "Once I activated this power I found myself at the time just before Naraku had completed the Shikon no Tama and once he had completed the jewel but before he could absorb the jewel into his body, Kyuubi appeared next to him and destroyed the infant that contained his heart and then cut his head off. The jewel fell to my feet...and Kyuubi asked me to give it to her so she could send me back to my time."

Another tense silence fell over the group as they awaited Naruto to finish his tale.

"You see, Kyuubi had acquired the power to traverse time during the Bijuu wars but it was limited by her amount of power, the fact that uncertainty of the future usually prevents distant travel into the future, and the fact that she could not travel to any time before her acquisition of her time travel powers. My swords have similar limitations; I cannot travel to any time before their creation. However the Shikon jewel has displayed the ability to surpass these limitations and would have given the Kyuubi enough power to do so as well and allowed Kyuubi to give the Iroku no Hi that same ability when focusing her magnified power into them. I would have been able to travel to the time before Konoha's fall so I could stop it before it happened.

"And...why didn't you?" It was Kagome that questioned warily, knowing the answer but needing to make sure.

Naruto smiled down at her, his cerulean blue eyes shining with something she could identify as gentleness, love but veiled with much sorrow though not regret. "When I found out that this action would erase your existence, I simply...couldn't do it."

Naruto smirked at the startled gasps from many of the group, though again Ginta and Hakkaku were the ones crying the most. Seriously...those two were starting to creep him out...if he woulda known better he'd say they'd start hugging and the sunrise would appear behind them.

For several moments, no one said anything; they were too busy trying to absorb the many implications of what he had just said.

It was Sango who spoke first, "You would give up your friends and family for us?" Her voice was strained as she said it, not sure if she would have that same strength of character if someone made her a similar offer to change the fate of her village and that of her brother. Koga was having similar thoughts about his pack.

Naruto smiled as he looked to the sky... "My loved ones from my own time have moved on to the afterlife or have perhaps been reincarnated. I must move on too...with their memory... If I went back, you wouldn't even have that..." Naruto explained with a sad smile.

"Oh, Naruto," Kagome said softly with misty eyes, trying hard not to cry for her friend's choice.

Inuyasha decided to try his patented 'pretend it's not that important so get to business' approach to lighten the atmosphere "Well it's nice that you value us that much but what are you going to do now. I mean you're gonna try to fix up this place? That'll take forever. And you'll need plenty of help..."

"Thank you for your wonderful and inspiring words to me Inuyasha (notice the sarcasm), but you're right. I need to focus on what to do here and now. You made a good point when you said that I couldn't do this alone. I don't suppose you would be willing to help me with rebuilding, would you? Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango?" Naruto asked.

The three looked mildly surprised at his request before each gave their answer.

Miroku thought about all that Naruto had done for him as well as all that he had learned from Naruto and his previous teacher, Mushin, and realized that he both owed Naruto and that there was a way to pay him back. "Naruto, I would be happy to be of service to you. Though you have taught me much about sealing techniques, you will need someone who knows how to make talismans against demons and how to create sutras and nin-sutras as I like to call them. After all, ninjas didn't really have to deal with many demons in your time, where as now you can find one almost anywhere you go."

For Sango the choice was rather simple as well. "Naruto, I think that my comrades would have wanted me to help you, because in a way I'd be continuing the legacy of the Demon Slayer village."

Inuyasha didn't need to think a lot on the subject either. "Well I really don't have anything better to do. I've gotten used to being around people and going on adventures with you guys so I guess I'm in," Inuyasha said with a huff as he crossed his arms.

Naruto smiled softly before he looked to Kagome. The girl wiped her tears before she giggled. "Do you even have to ask? Naruto smiled and placed a hand in thanks over her shoulder before he turned to the Daiyokai of the West. "Lord Sesshomaru, I notice that Konoha seems to be in western Japan, which makes sense, considering the fact that Kyuubi gave your father the So'unga. I was wondering, since, if I'm not mistaken, you wish for Rin to continue her training under me, if you would consider endorsing Konoha and having your men give it protection until its own forces can defend it."

Sesshomaru looked at Naruto, pondering his request. He remembered what Bokusen'on, the ancient tree, had said about yokai power diminishing in the absence of opposition. At first he had refused to believe it, but since fighting Naruto and then later the Kyuubi herself, he now knew this was likely true and that the restoration of humanity's former glory was likely the only way to restore that of the yokai. He also admitted if only to himself, that he did want Rin to be strong so that he wouldn't have to worry about her.

He spoke "Very well. Bokusen'on, the old tree that gave the wood for our sword sheaths told me that if the ways of the Ancients were revived, then the yokai might grow back into their former power. I agree to offer my assistance in the restoration of Konoha."

"Thank you Lord Sesshomaru," Naruto said with a bow of his head.

"I would like to help you as well," Kagura said, surprising most of the others except Naruto, Kagome, and Sesshomaru who would not show any surprise at anything short of finding out about the Kyuubi.

Koga suddenly remembered that this was the woman that had wiped out his pack, never mind that Naraku was coercing her at the time; she had shown no remorse on that day or any other for what she had done. "Hey, I just remembered that I needed to kill you too," he said brandishing the Goraishi menacingly. Ginta and Hakkaku tensed behind him preparing to attack along side their leader.

"No Koga, stop! I won't let you hurt Kagura," cried Kagome surprising Koga with her intensity.

"But…" Koga started.

"Kagura may have killed off your pack, but you have to understand that Naraku held Kagura's heart then. He could have ended her life whenever he wanted. He gave her back her heart after we last fought her because she was too injured to continue serving him and had failed him too many times due to her disloyalty to him."

Koga looked at her in surprise again and Kagome continued, "That's right Koga, Kagura hated Naraku. And more than that, she's changed since then. She's not the same person she was back then. She's helped us and saved my life many times... since Naruto saved her from you, I won't let you hurt her now."

"Speaking of which," interrupted Naruto. "Didn't you say that Kagura was my responsibility? If I obey that, then I'll have to defend her if you try to hurt her," Naruto said...his blue eyes holding their familiar laziness though the glint of warning within them clear for Koga to see.

Koga seemed sufficiently mollified buy the two humans so Naruto continued, "I'd be happy to have you're assistance Kagura."

Naruto turned back to Koga, "If you ever need something to do, I'll have a patrol job open for you. I understand your need for revenge as you must now know, but Kagura was not the party truly responsible for your loss. The one who was responsible is already dead."

Koga blinked, not having expecting this, and replied, "I'll think about it."

"I'll help," said Ayame, earning yet more surprised looks from Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku.

Koga had to ask "Bu-but why Ayame."

"Because, even though he's human, he seems very honorable and wise for his age. Perhaps grandfather would think him a more suitable mate for me than a hothead like you!"

At this statement, Koga let out a startled cry but Ayame continued before he could interrupt, "and besides, I like leaves."

At this, everyone, including the fifty wolves and Sesshomaru, sweat-dropped.

Naruto looked at her and asked, "You want to help me because this village is named Ko-No-Ha (Tree of Leaves)?"

"That's right," Ayame chirped, causing a smaller bout of sweat-drops.

"Okay... Naruto said slowly before he turned to Kagome. "Now, moving right along here at a turtles pace for you, Kagome. I need you to try to purify the Shikon no Tama immediately if at all possible. We don't want anyone abusing its power ever again," Naruto said while looking at Kagome's closed right hand causing the wolf yokai to notice that she indeed held the complete Shikon jewel.

Of course Ayame had already noticed that Kagome held at least a large portion of the jewel and it annoyed her to find out that her long hours of training had been pointless because the jewel was completed before she could show off her new Shikon sensing abilities.

All eyes turned to Kagome as she spoke, "That means I need to make a wish, but what should I wish for?" Kagome closed her eyes and thought to herself, 'I can't make a wish about Inuyasha because it would probably be selfish in someway no matter what it is. It has to be for someone else, but who.' Suddenly she thought of Naruto. He had been a source of hope for them since they had come to know him, and he had experienced so much pain in his life. She wished she could help him somehow.

'That's it,' she realized.

Kagome looked up at her friends and said, "I know what to wish for."

Then she said after a moment, "you might want to stand back some."

The others did as she asked.

She clapped her hands together about the Shikon no Tama and summoned her pink miko power. It swirled about her as she concentrated it upon the orb in her hands. Not wanting to muck up her wish with words, she focused on her intention.

Then, with a cry she slammed the glowing Shikon Jewel upon the ground beneath her. The jewel bathed the entire LeafVillage in bright pink light and then a rumbling could be heard all about Konoha. In the sky just above them appeared the pink silhouettes of the eight neo-Bijuu surrounding a calm Midoriko silhouette. The Bijuu above began to convulse and thrash about giving silent screams that were as deafening as the mightiest roars for they seemed to rob the air of all sound.

Ah-Un and Kirara glowed briefly as the Bijuu's power was drained and filtered through the ancient miko's silhouette and poured into the village.

The buildings began to pull themselves back together, paint began to return to its original colors, cloth began to mend, supplies refreshed themselves, scrolls and books became legible and fit to hold again, plants receded and others grew back, and stone monuments reformed.

As the process completed itself, the figures in the sky disintegrated, the Bijuu with a silent shriek, and the miko with what seemed a sigh of release.

Konoha's body was restored.

* * *

Amidst the lights, no one, save a red-eyed vixen noticed a certain jian sword sail off into the distance as the thrashing of the silhouette of Yamata no Orochi sent it flying. She frowned.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the cave of the DemonSlayerVillage, a statuesque stalagmite crumbled.

* * *

Back in Konoha, every one gaped at the now restored (if in form only) hidden village.

Ayame was the first to speak. "Sugoi, this place is awesome!" exclaimed the wolf yokai.

"Kagome," Naruto said in a strained voice, barely restrained tears in his eyes.

This time it was Miroku who decided to break the tension. "Yes, thank you Kagome, you saved us a lot of time on restoring Konoha. Now we just need some warm bodies to fill it."

Naruto chuckled, glad for the monk's humor, as he ran his hand over one of the buildings,

"You're right Miroku; we've just shaved off quite a few years of work."

He sniffed once as he wiped his eyes hiding the emotions he felt welling up in his chest at the sight of his old village restored. Speaking in a strained tone as he swallowed the lump in his throat, "Kyuubi's agreed to keep watching over the village until I can set up a proper guard and patrol system. We'd best head back to Kaede's village; I need to get a few things from the future. And I imagine that Kagome has some school work to catch up on."

Kagome made an "eep" sound before panicking and muttering, "Oh man, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail. No."

Ignoring her Naruto said, "Alright guys, let's mount up and go. We've got time to sort through this place later." He turned to the wolf yokai and said, "Sorry guys you'll have to go on foot."

"But… we just got here," Koga protested.

"Don't wanna run anymore do you, huh? Alright then you can form a perimeter around Konoha and set up a watch schedule," Naruto drawled.

"Hey, you can't tell me what to do!" cried Koga.

Ayame turned to him and with a face that now seemed truly demonic said, "We're going to go and form that perimeter, fiancé, aren't we?"

"Yes dear!" Koga quailed, terrified of Ayame's wrath.

Mustering up as much bravado as he could, Koga turned to his brown wolves and ordered, "Move out of the village and surround it."

The pack of wolf yokai and wolves ran toward the village, spurned by the group's alpha female.

"Ha, look at him now. That woman's got him whipped," said Inuyasha with relish.

"You're one to talk" quipped Miroku.

His reply was an indignant "Hey."

* * *

The Inu gang plus Sesshomaru flew out of Konoha. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kagura were riding the wind mistress's giant feathers. Miroku and Sango rode Kirara. Naruto was riding Ah-Un. Sesshomaru was riding his acid-youki cloud.

Naruto, realizing something, had Ah-Un fly up beside Sesshomaru. He then said loud enough for the Daiyokai to hear over the wind, "If Rin is going to be registered as a shinobi of Konoha, she's going to need a surname. Since you are her guardian, you will need one as well. I thought of one that should suit you; Inuichi (first dog, lit. dog one). What do you think?"

The Daiyokai looked at him, seeming to mull the name over. "That name is acceptable," Sesshomaru finally replied.

Naruto grinned at him. "I knew it would."

* * *

They landed just outside Kaede's village in the evening, and then proceeded to the center hut where said priestess resided.

Just before they could enter, a high-pitched, "Lord Sesshomaru, are you alright!" could be heard from within the hut before a distraught kappa ran out of it.

"Why do I keep him around?" Sesshomaru asked himself one more time.

Following the annoying goblin was a far cuter Rin who beamed, "Lord Sesshomaru," she said warmly before leaping to hug the Daiyokai about his neck, unknowingly restricting his oxygen flow.

Naruto hoped that he would see a purple Inu this time but was disappointed and then alarmed as he placed her back on the ground where she immediately turned and jumped to hug him around his own neck. Naruto, learning from Sesshomaru, gently bent to put her back on the ground after a few seconds.

She gasped when she saw that he wasn't wearing his mask but then continued. "Naruto-sama I did it. I can do the henge no jutsu."

Naruto smiled down at her, "You can, can you? Show me."

She grinned and made the ram seal before poofing into the exact image of Sesshomaru. She even managed to get the facial expression right. She then destroyed the illusion by grinning and saying in a cheerful voice, "I did pretty good, didn't I? I looked just like Lord Sesshomaru, didn't I?"

Most of the others, especially Jaken, seemed disturbed by the sight of a happy Sesshomaru.

Jaken sighed in relief as she released the technique.

"Hi guys, did you get Naraku?" asked a now humanoid kitsune kittling.

"Shippo, you're back to normal!" exclaimed Kagome.

"Yeah, apparently Jaken knew enough about Sess… I mean Lord Sesshomaru's transformation to help me with mine."

Kaede asked seriously, "Did you get him this time? Did you get Naraku? And what was that nine-tail up to anyway."

And so, the woman, Kitsune, Rin and Kappa were informed over what had occurred.

* * *

It was several hours later, that Kagome had gathered her things, ready to return to her home to gather some much needed supplies. Naruto and Inuyasha acting as her escorts, Naruto because he wanted some more McDonald's from the future and Inuyasha just because he wanted to make sure she was safe.

"Alright, I'm going 'Back to the Future'." Naruto said in a cheesy 'cool' voice as they entered the clearing, standing on the lip of the well before flipping into it.

Kagome sweat dropped at his use of the movie title and wondered when he had managed to see it before jumping in after him… only for Naruto to catch her at the bottom of the well.

"It's not working," said Naruto.

"It's not?" Kagome asked with a trace of nervousness entering her voice. She looked up and saw a sky, not moldy old wood. She dropped out of his arms and tried jumping up and down.

Still no future.

"What's happening?" Kagome asked quietly to no one in particular.

Naruto thought a moment before realizing why the well wasn't responding to them and sighed.

"The timelines have diverged. When you purified the Shikon jewel, you made it so that the Shikon no longer exists anymore. That means that when Kikyo is reincarnated as you in the future, you don't have the Shikon jewel embedded within you and thus never travel back to the feudal era. The future that was yours no longer exists. I… suppose I could use Iroku no Hi to go back to just before you purified the jewel to make you do it in the future… but then…"

Kagome saddened. "But then it would mean that you would have to spend years restoring the buildings of Konoha. And then there's no guarantee that I would be able to return to this time without the Shikon."

"Do you want me to take back your wish?" Naruto said with sad eyes.

"No, Naruto, I can't do that to you." She said quickly and Naruto was glad for her lack of hesitation. The Miko from the future looked down at the well, biting her lower lip as the full implications of just what this meant hit her full force. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and believed it to be Naruto, soon however, that notion was disproved, as she felt the familiar, red fire rat robe of Inuyasha pass over her skin. Turning her in his arms, the hanyou allowed her to rest over his shoulder as her sobs began to escalate, Naruto watched the raven haired girls back with saddened eyes, promising that he would repay her sacrifice.

He sighed; this beginning...was not off to a good start.

* * *

TBC

Please Review.

AN: This chapter was mainly intended to set up events for the sequel and give needed exposition about the original fic. There were a few details that not every reader may have picked up on.

The bit about the Bijuu not being intelligent prior to being sealed in humans is canon for Naruto, as is their drawing on the intelligence of their host. The part about them keeping that intelligence is probably not. I included this to explain why the Bijuu were so much stronger than the demons of Inuyasha.

Why did Inuyasha not say anything about using the jewel to become a full demon? Inuyasha may have wanted to become a full demon with the Shikon jewel at first, but by this time, he doesn't like the way he acts when his demonic side takes hold of him, and the only person he ever truly admired is a human, so he's lost interest in becoming a full demon.

Why is Kagome stranded in the past? Because I don't want the characters to be able to go find out how their efforts turned out. There needs to be some doubt as to weather they will succeed. Being able to go into the future and check on what obstacles they would face lessens dramatic tension.

What's with these limits on Kyuubi's time travel powers? There had to be reason for Kyuubi to need the Shikon jewel. There had to be limits on Iroku no Hi's powers to keep the sword from being too uber. Also, if Kyuubi could use time travel when she was sealed into Naruto, she would have used it to escape.


	2. Chapter One: How to Restart a Ninja Vill

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, and I'm not making any money off of this. Also, I didn't write the original "Naruto of the Shikon", LD 1449 did, and LD, who gave me permission to write this sequel, doesn't own Naruto or Inuyasha either.

Summary: Sequel to "Naruto of the Shikon." In feudal Japan, 4500 years after the shinobi world fell to the Bijuu, Naruto sets out to rebuild Konoha and create a brighter future. Naruto x Inuyasha Crossover. Naruto/?, Inu/Kagome, Miroku/Sango and others.

Warning: Read "Naruto of the Shikon" first. Also this has major spoilers for both Naruto and Inuyasha.

Naruto of the Shikon - Shodai Rokudaime

Written by - qtar1984

Beta'ed by - LD 1449

* * *

Chapter One: How to Restart a Ninja Village

Once Kagome's sobbing had subsided enough for her to move, Inuyasha had leapt out from the well with the time-stranded miko in his arms followed by a somber Naruto.

They walked back to the village, Kagome still crying, a sob wracking her frame every now and then.

The others were in Kaede's yard, about to bid farewell to the Daiyokai and his followers, when they noticed that Naruto and Kagome had not left and that Kagome was crying.

Sango, Shippo, and Miroku ran towards them and all asked, "What's wrong?" Kirara followed behind them, a concerned look in the feline's large, red eyes and Sesshomaru and halted his departure, Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un stopping as well.

"The well didn't take us to the future. In fact, it didn't respond to us at all," Naruto said gravely.

"What?!" cried Miroku as Shippo made an unintelligible panicked sound.

"Why didn't it?" asked Sango.

Naruto sighed thinking how to phrase it for a moment before he answered. "It's because the time lines diverged. The Shikon jewel no longer exist, so in the future Kagome isn't born with it imbedded within her. That means that she never comes back to this time."

Miroku looked at Naruto skeptically. "Wait a moment Naruto-san, wasn't the Shikon jewel that Kagome purified from the future as well. If so, could her not being able to use the well to go back to the future simply be because she needs the jewel to go through the well."

Naruto shook his head, glancing once at the still distraught girl before he spoke "No Miroku. Haven't you forgotten the time Inuyasha pushed Kagome down the well after taking the Shikon jewel away from her. She still went back to the future, but was unable to return without a jewel shard of her own. The Shikon jewel doesn't follow the traditional 'rules' of time travel. If it did, it wouldn't have been able to go back to my time, which was long before its creation, but it was. More than that, even if it's not a case of an alternate future with Kagome being born without the Shikon jewel inside of her, it would just mean that it was our own actions in this time that caused the timelines to diverge, and that the Kagome of the new timeline has gone to an alternate version of feudal Japan or maybe she was never born at all. The end result is the same. The future that Kagome originally came from, the future that she was connected to, no longer exists." Naruto finished; his voice straining slightly at the end, as he looked away from the priestess unable to bring himself to witness the pain his interference had brought her.

Miroku felt like slapping himself for forgetting that fiasco. Though granted, it had been quite a long time ago, before Sango even joined their group he should still have been able to recall that event.

Meanwhile, Kagome gasped at Naruto's words her sobs growing as the results of this decision were fully voiced. "Mother, Sota, Grandpa. I'll never see you again and you'll never even know it," Kagome realized as she thought about what Naruto had said.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said tightening his arms around her to comfort her as she wept over her lost family.

Sesshomaru who had remained silent up to this point gazed at them impassively, mostly indifferent to the girl's plight, yet contemplative of the possible pitfalls of time travel and then asked his question, "If the timelines have indeed diverged as you say, human, then when why is the girl still here as she is, shouldn't she have simply changed to match the timeline as it changed. Should she not have been transported back to her own time. Also then, why aren't you capable of going into the future where you were previously. I assume you have been there before."

Naruto, though somewhat irritated at the Daiyokai's ability to phrase a question into a statement, thought about what he said for a moment before answering, "As to why I'm unable to go to the future. That's relatively simple. Inuyasha is connected to Kagome through the beads of subjugation, so he was able to sort of piggy back on her connection to both times and so was I because I wasn't of this time to begin with, meaning I'm not as tightly bound to it as you are. As to why Kagome didn't change because of changes to the timeline is a harder question. But I can answer that with a test."

Naruto turned to the still crying Kagome in Inuyasha's arms. He thought better of asking Kagome right now and looked up to Inuyasha, "Inuyasha, do you remember destroying a mask containing a shard of the Shikon jewel while you were in the future?"

Inuyasha looked at him quizzically before answering slowly, "Yeah, I do remember doing that. What's that got to do with this?"

Naruto looked at him evenly. "Everything," Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked.

By this time Kagome had stopped sobbing, able to push her grief aside in order to see where this was going and receive at least some answers.

"Its simple Inuyasha. The Shikon jewel shard from that mask was a shard that was left over from this time when the jewel was still laying in fragments. Yet now the jewel has been completed and destroyed, so that mask never had a jewel shard in it. Yet you still remember the event. That means that the magic of the Bone-Eater's Well must protect its users from changes to the timeline. Remember what I said about the Shikon being exempt from traditional time travel rules."

Sesshomaru nodded silently in contemplation. He had never known the jewel contained such power.

Kagome remembered what she had said to Naruto at the well and steeled herself, wiping her tears away as she gestured Inuyasha to let her down, straightening herself as she swallowed thickly, pushing her hesitations away before she could drop back into her depression. She didn't want to dwell on this subject, it did nothing but bring answers to a situation that could not be changed, "Okay, this is all very interesting but can we get to business now. We need to decide how we're going to go about rebuilding Konoha," Kagome said, trying to be strong.

It was obvious that she was holding back her pain. Naruto looked to her then, his eyes piercing the veil of her mask to view what lay beneath. 'She's pushing herself...distracting herself...I swear I'll repay you for all this somehow.' It didn't matter how the timeline had changed, Naruto knew that he was at least partially responsible for whatever caused it.

"Alright Kagome," Naruto said in a reassuring tone.

* * *

Naruto lead the group back into Kaede's hut and sat down.

"Let me think. How did we run Konoha?" Naruto asked himself out loud.

"We divided the affairs of the Ninja and the affairs of the civilians. We had a council for each sector of the populace, while the Hokage acted as the dictator in charge of the military, leaving the governance over the civilians to their own council," Naruto said in a measured voice.

"Unless anyone has any objections...I would like to be the Hokage, the sixth." He paused, smirking to himself a little before he continued.

"When I was a kid I was always going on about how I would be the greatest Hokage ever one day and that everyone would respect me. I never imagined that I would also be the Hokage as a Shodai as well," Naruto said in a wistful tone.

Inuyasha looked at him somehow knowing that Kagome needed this change of subject. He spoke in a dismissive tone, "So you'll be what? The Shodai Rokudaime Hokage (First Generation Sixth Fire Shadow)?"

Naruto smirked. "I guess I will. If I can restore Konoha to its former glory in a world without proper ninja, I really will be the greatest Hokage ever, won't I," Naruto said, finally regaining some of his usual cheer.

"Now as to the councils' bodies. For the civilian council, Kaede, I would want you to be the first member..." Naruto said, turning to the elderly priestess. "Are you willing?"

Kaede looked to the blond Shinobi. "I would love too, trully Naruto-san, but I have a responsibility to this village, more importantly the people within it."

Naruto smirked at her, "Kaede, the people of this village can move to Konoha, especially now that the well doesn't work anymore. It's a much nicer place; it's easier to defend and has more than enough room. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's brother has offered to send warriors to defend the place until we have a military of our own again. I need to get people to join Konoha. So why not start here, with people that at least know me a bit?"

Kaede stared at him in surprise. "I'll have to ask the villagers if they will go before I agree, you must understand that this village holds their lively hoods. Even if they were to accept, are you certain you want this fragile old woman holding any position of power? I dont have many years left in these old bones.

Naruto nodded. "Do you even have to ask Kaede? I'd be more than happy to have you as part of the council." He paused before he looked outside. "Now's a good a time as any, Sango, Miroku, could you go and ask the villagers to gather outside the hut, so Kaede can ask them." Naruto said, gesturing to the hut's exit.

The Monk and slayer nodded before they went outside. About an hour or so later, many of the villagers were gathered outside the hut and soon, Kaede walked out to address them.

Inside the hut, Naruto, Inuyasha and Kagome could hear her as she spoke. "I have announcement for yea. Naruto-sama, the Shinobi that has aided Kagome-san and Inuyasha for many a new moon, has declared that he will return to his home village to rebuild. He invites you all, to come if you so wish. He offers protection, from raiders and bandits, whom you know have often been a plague to our small village."

There was a pause before Naruto could here some murmuring and then the sound of the village children speaking to their parents about how much they liked the man with magic tricks.

Naruto smirked, looks like that little story with chakra display he'd given them a few months back when he arrived had made an impression, who'd a thought?

One by one he could hear the villagers agree to move, though he could hear some complaining of the lost crops, soon the majority of them grew confident, especially with the better offer of protection. "Will lady Kagome and her companions go as well?"

With the answer of yes, the decision to leave seemed to become more affirmed as many of the villagers, who had been worried of the journey itself, what with the risks of raiders, were now confident in the safety of their travel.

Kaede walked back in and Naruto smiled at her saying, "I knew they would go." Kaede nodded, smiling gently at the younger male.

"Once we get to Konoha, we can look through its library to figure out what our laws will be. We'll have to adapt them to work with Japan's government," Naruto said.

"Kagome, you'll help me figure out how to restore our production of goods that are more advanced than the people of this time are familiar with. And I'll put you in charge of training people to operate the more modern utilities in Konoha when you're not practicing your priestess skills."

Kagome smiled through her teary face, glad that Naruto was giving her something to keep herself occupied.

Inuyasha put a hand on her shoulder.

"Inuyasha, Sango, Shippo, and Miroku, you'll be helping me teach people the shinobi arts."

Shippo stated the obvious and said, "But we aren't ninja, Naruto."

Naruto counter by saying, "But you do have applicable experience with which to teach younger generations."

Sango spoke and said; "I think we should retrieve the scrolls from my home village. There's information in them that could be dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Right Sango, we'll stop by it sometime. We might as well get some equipment there as well."

Naruto then got a look on his face and said, "I just, remembered. Bloodline limits, there aren't any of those around anymore, are there?"

Kagome looked to Naruto and asked, "What are bloodline limits?"

"It's a special ability inherited from one's parents. The closest thing I seen to it in this time was Miroku's windtunnel, and that was a curse. If my ability to regenerate is passed down to my children should I have any, it would be a bloodline limit. I wonder how we could create new blood line limits. I suppose the clan houses in Konoha may have notes on it but those houses are likely trapped. It might be possible to breed demonic powers into a human family line," he thought out loud, glancing at Inuyasha and Kagome, causing them to blush before Inuyasha growled, causing Naruto to look away.

"Well I suppose that's enough talk about rebuilding for now. We can do more once we're at Konoha," The blond said standing up.

He turned and walked outside, finding Rin petting Kirara and Ah-Un; Sesshomaru standing neaby while Jaken saddled Ah-Un to make the relatively long journey west. He'd nearly forgoten they were there. He looked to Rin before he began making his way towards her. He dug in his pouch for a scroll he had prepared for the girl who'd wormed her way into his heart.

"Rin," Naruto said, drawing her wide eyed gaze to him self. She had been too busy petting Kirara to notice his approach. He held out the scroll to her. "You wanna learn the kawarimi no jutsu?" Naruto asked with a grin.

Rin squealed and took the scroll and listened to his lecture on the replacement technique, Sesshomaru listened too, though no one could really tell.

* * *

Iga Province

Haken and Maki, two young apprentice ninja of the Iga clan panted as the lay resting after a long day's training.

Haken noticed a small glow in the sky north of them that resolved into a small point of light that grew brighter as an object drew nearer to the two boys.

Haken stood up "Maki...what's that?

A jian sword, straight and double edged, suddenly drove itself into Haken's chest, pinning him to the ground, even as it killed him.

Maki bolted up in shock.

He warily looked about himself.

Seeing no enemies, he looked to Haken. The Iga clan trained their shinobi to be ruthless, cold and unfeeling, and though his training partners sudden death from above had shocked him, he felt no pitty or sadness for his peer.

Slowly he reached out to pull the blade out his friend's cooling body.

As his hand grasped the hilt (which he absently noticed looked like scales...something akin to a crocodile) the boy seemed to hear whispers upon the wind.

"I am not worthy of this blade," the boy said to himself after a moment, almost as if in a daze. "I should bring it to someone stronger...a worthy wielder"

The aprentice ran through the mental list of people, people he felt could be worthy of wielding the blade in his hands in his head and he seemed to feel a sense of rightness when he thought of one of those names.

Hatori Hanzo

Kaede's Village: Three days after the Inu-Taichi's return to the village.

Naruto looked upon his friends and the caravan before him and spoke "Alright people this journey won't be quick because we won't be flying to where we're going this time. Along the way we will stop to gather supplies, make money, and pick up other people who have been displaced by land disputes as well as any wanderers who may wish to join us. Is everyone with me?" Naruto asked.

After the large group gave their assent Naruto continued, "Okay, let's move out."

So began the trek to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

TBC

Please Review, and at least make it a little detailed, please.

AN: Some people have comlained about Kagome being standed in the feudal era. My original idea was to allow her, Inuyasha, and Naruto to go into the future and back. However, in cannon she was only able to go into the future when she didn't have a piece of the Shikon jewel with her in the well so she would have been stranded in the future if she had purified it there. Also, LD did not want the Inu group to have an advantage that would greatly decrease the dramatic tension of their quest.

Sorry this chapter is shorter than the last but the prologue was meant to be like a TV show pilot episode.

In this chapter I decided to fill any plot holes that may have formed because of the fact that Kagome is stranded in the past.

Kagome is not over losing her family by a long shot. She's just going to try and suck it up for the time being.

I will probably show what Koga and the others are doing in the next chapter.

Some of you think you know what the sword is and you're probably wrong. Don't give me flame reviews for bringing back Orochimaru because I haven't. It will become clear later.


	3. Chapter Two: Exodus I: Fleas’ Test

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, and I'm not making any money off of this

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, and I'm not making any money off of this. Also, I didn't write the original "Naruto of the Shikon", LD 1449 did, and LD, who gave me permission to write this sequel, doesn't own Naruto or Inuyasha either.

Summary: Sequel to "Naruto of the Shikon." In feudal Japan, 4500 years after the shinobi world fell to the Bijuu, Naruto sets out to rebuild Konoha and create a brighter future. Naruto x Inuyasha Crossover. Naruto/?, Inu/Kagome, Miroku/Sango and others.

Warning: Read "Naruto of the Shikon" first. Also this has major spoilers for both Naruto and Inuyasha.

Naruto of the Shikon - Shodai Rokudaime

Written by - qtar1984

Beta'ed by - LD 1449

* * *

**Chapter Two: Exodus I: Fleas' Test**

**Konoha**

Koga, Ginta, Hakkaku, and Ayame soon grew bored of simply watching over the area surrounding Konoha, especially when the hidden village was so exotic to them. There were too many new sights and smells there for them to resist.

So they left their wolves with the instructions not to let anyone in the village unless they were with the group that they had been with in Konoha earlier. Game was in good supply. It seemed as though this place had been concealed from human eyes for quite some time.

These buildings were nothing like the primitive thatched roof houses that needed stones to keep their tops from blowing off. Every building seemed to have the architecture of a lord's estate or more modern designs that they didn't recognize. There were strange rectangular buildings made of brick and mortar. A few buildings were strangely round, though these seemed to have some significance because of the large kanji on them.

Koga and his male companions noticed a familiar scent. It was a salty sent too faint for humans to detect that he did not think he would ever smell again.

The four wolf-yokai tracked the scent down to a small building with kanji reading Madate's Grocery, whatever grocery meant, probably something to do with food. Koga carefully pulled on the handle to the building's strange transparent door and found it to be unlocked.

They entered the building they could see packed foods that reminded them of the food stuffs that Kagome had brought from the future.

Then they saw it on the fourth row of shelves. When Konoha and its physical contents had been restored with Kagome's wish it seemed as though this item had been restored as well.

"Instant Ramen!" Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku cried at the same time. Koga  
felt tears of joy stream down his face at the sight of the wonderful tasting noodles.

'All this ramen, and that ninja isn't here to steal it from us' the  
three males thought as they grabbed a few of the sealed Styrofoam cups.

"Ayame, you've got to try this stuff," Koga said handing her a shrimp  
ramen cup and a pork ramen cup while keeping two of the same for himself. Ginta and Hakkaku both chose a pair of ramen cups for themselves as well.

"Okay, what exactly is this?" asked Ayame.

"It's instant ramen. Kagome brought some of this back from the future.  
It's really good. I didn't think this place would have any." Koga said, drooling at the thought of eating the delicious noodles without interruption.

"How do they have any of these anyway?" Ginta questioned in one of his rare moments of insight. In response however, Koga and Hakkaku just shrugged, while Ayame still didn't know the true implications of the fact that they had these things.

"Why is it called 'instant' ramen?" asked Ayame.

"Because for some reason Humans have to "cook" things I think its because they don't like the taste of blood on their meat." Koga explained as he shook his head, at the thought, not understanding how it was humans couldn't appreciate the raw, fresh meat of a kill... "So anyway, cooking meat and rice and things takes time, this stuff though is cooked in just a few seconds.

"Wow that's amazing," Ayame said thinking on how convenient it must be for humans that were traveling.

"Umm… Koga… there doesn't seem to be any water in here," Hakkaku interrupted as he realized that indeed, there was no water causing the male wolves to face-vault.

Koga stood up again and groaned, "Ah man, you're right there isn't any  
water in this place."

Then Koga straightened, "Wait a minute, I remember smelling water over by those stone faces on the cliff."

The other wolves brightened at this. It had taken them a few minutes, but they had finally managed to find a pot to heat up the already hot water from the (still active) hot springs in front of the Hokage monument, along with some chop sticks.

They had heated the water over a small campfire they had built.  
Koga and the other wolves began to salivate when they began to smell the delicious scent of the ramen as Koga poured the hot water into the first shrimp ramen cup when a voice came from behind them.

"You know Naruto would be mad if you ate too many of those."

The party gave startled cries before whipping around to face the stranger. Their eyes widened as they took in the sight of the woman before them.

She had a beautiful face, long red hair, a fanged grin, red slitted eyes, and wore black armor. The wolves found themselves counting; three, six… "Nine tails!" Ginta and Hakkaku cried, realizing whom this woman was.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune

"Um… Hello there, Kyuubi-sama" the two greeted shakily, causing Koga to growl a bit he didn't bow to anyone, least of all any fox. Those little bastards were known tricksters; Ginta and Hakkaku were probably embarrassing them by falling for some kind of illusion.

His body seemed to lock up suddenly however, as the woman's eyes locked onto his own everything fading for a moment as her eyes glowed a fierce blood red, her smirk turning predatory and her fangs glinting.

Before he could react the illusion faded and he found the Kitsune looking at his two prostrated followers with an amused smile over her features. She chuckled as Ayame started prodding them to get up with her foot.

"Even so… you'd better eat that before it gets cold." She said with a small shake of her head.

Koga straightened and quickly poured water into the rest of the ramen cups, trying to pretend that she hadn't so affected him with her power and her managing to sneak up on him.

Ayame frowned at the woman, slightly jealous of her looks.

"Whatever why should I care if I piss off that ningen anyways?" Koga asked as if nothing had happened viciously suppressing the feeling of cold dread that had seeped up and down his spine when she had looked at him. He still didn't understand how the others hadn't noticed.

Kyuubi looked at him thoughtfully before answering, "Besides him loving  
ramen and the fact that he could defeat you quite easily… Naruto will be bringing people here, and they will need these instant food stuffs along with the animals in the surrounding area to survive until they can set up proper farms for a city of this size in this time."

Koga snorted. "So what? OW!" He yelled as Ayame smacked the back of his head. "Don't be an idiot." She hissed. While she was less rude than Koga and was willing to give the Kitsune the benefit of the doubt that she was the real thing, if she did indeed turn out to be the demon of myth, the last thing she wanted was Koga pissing her off.

Kyuubi smirked, "If the job of keeping these three in line gets too tiring for you girl, you can always take a soak in the hot springs here, just make sure you stay on the right side. I'd offer to join you but I've got a few errands to run."

The wolf yokai looked at her quizzically before they asked, "What  
errands?"

"Nothing big, I just need to get a few presents for Naruto-kun's welcome back party. So to speak." The Kitsune said with her familiar smirk before she turned and left the four to their ramen.

* * *

**Naruto's Caravan**

The make shift wagons (made with the help of hundreds of Naruto clones, to the amazement of both the Inu gang and the migrant villagers) pulled along with the help of the various livestock that Kaede's village had.

Since they had no horses, they had oxen and cattle pulling the wagons as well as goats and pigs pulling smaller carts (those were a rather amusing sight), slowly advanced along the path through the forest.

The caravan was guarded on all sides by Naruto clones (some of which were hidden further away), all wearing masks and hoods to prevent observers from realizing that they were all copies of the young man in the middle of the procession.

Currently said young man was teaching his rapt audience of children, their parents, and the Inu gang the history of the shinobi world that had been destroyed 4500 years prior.

A young boy named Hisame Aoi asked the shinobi, "Naruto-sensei, did they really put great demons into little babies in your time?" with a certain amount of disbelief.

Naruto looked at the boy and answered, "Yes they really did seal great  
demons into babies. The villages did it so they could either use the demons as weapons or to protect themselves from those demons when they attacked. The demons, though powerful, weren't very smart back then so it wasn't as hard as you think. But it did have a price."

Naruto paused before continuing, "To seal away something that powerful  
unwillingly usually requires that a person give their life for the sealing, though some had developed a methods that did not require it." Naruto thought of the Akatsuki's sealing of the freely roaming Bijuu as he said this.

Naruto got a sad look in his eyes for a moment before he shook it off, "The people that contained the demons invariably lead hard lives. Even though they actually kept the demons at bay and stood between them and the people they might have hurt, the people around them usually either scorned them as if they were the demons or viewed them merely as tools to be wielded by the hidden villages. They were not allowed to live normal lives. This is one reason why the demon hosts where called Jinchuuriki, power of human sacrifice.

"Bwa, How horrible! That must have been what it was like for you, Lord  
Inuyasha. 'Slurp'," said a familiar flea before driving his proboscis  
into Inuyasha's neck to have a drink.

Inuyasha gave his usual response of slapping the nigh indestructible flea flat.

"Myoga, where have you been? We haven't seen you since before Naraku  
first attacked us with the So'unga."

The flea yokai puffed up again and jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder before answering in a pleading voice, "I'm sorry Lord Inuyasha, but I knew that I wouldn't be of any use to you so I left so that could live to serve you another day."

Inuyasha scowled, "Then where were you after that?"

The flea looked sheepish as he replied, "I'm sorry but… well… I'm  
afraid of Lord Sesshomaru," the flea confessed.

Naruto chuckled before speaking, "I don't blame you. Inuyasha you  
should go easy on the guy, its not like he could do much in a fight anyway, unless sucking blood counts for anything."

Naruto then turned slightly to address the flea again, "You may know that I plan to rebuild my home village, Konoha. If you don't mind I would like it if you set up a flea spy network for me though I'm sure you guys already have one, being as wide spread as you are. I'd just like to be in on it," he finished with a grin.

"Spy network? What spy network?" Inuyasha questioned in the familiar gruff manner. "You must be crazy to think this one's any use?

Myoga looked mildly shocked at the ninja's guess about the flea gossip  
network, before he answered, "I'm surprised that you caught onto us.  
Inuyasha-sama was never that smart. Squish Urk...I mean, I always believed that I was more secretive than that..." The flea corrected as best he could while he recovered from the squishing.

He shook his head. "I can give you regular updates on situations but only if Inuyasha-sama approves. The flea turned to the Inu hanyou to hear his answer.

Miroku looked thoughtful before he said to the hanyou, "I think it's an  
excellent idea. You must admit Myoga has been good at giving us much needed information at times."

Inuyasha didn't need to think much about it. "Fine whatever, do it. I just don't want a whole bunch of flea demons wanting a drink of me," he answered, a twitch in his brow at the though of more fleas trying to drain him.

"Very well milord, but they may want at least some blood in exchange for the information."

Naruto smiled at that and said, "I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult  
to have a blood drive or two for the information, I just don't want anyone getting any diseases or getting weak from blood loss."

Myoga looked slightly confused and asked, "What is a 'blood drive'?"

Naruto remembered this wasn't the age of medical science and explained,  
"It's an event where several people get together to donate blood by means of tube connecting their arteries to a plastic bag, usually to help other people who need blood because they've either lost blood by accident or because they're sick. It's a thing of the distant past or the distant future."

Myoga looked pleased and nodded his tiny head, "Yes. That should be an  
acceptable way to offer payment for the services of the flea gossip  
network."

"Gossip network?" everyone said incredulously.

Myoga clapped one of his hands over his mouth before nodding sheepishly.

"What do you expect, we flea yokai don't cause any of the major demonic  
historical events so we just watch listen to it and hope to gain something from it," the flea explained.

Naruto smiled and said, "I see, you're all just a bunch of little guy's sharing old wives' tales eh?" Naruto winked at them as he said that  
last part.

Everyone smiled in amusement a smile as they said to the flea, "Yes, that's exactly right." Causing Myoga to grumble in disdain, something about 'No respect'.

Naruto then said to the flea, "Now that that's out of the way, was there anything you wanted to tell us before you cried to Inuyasha about my story." He finished with a twitching eye.

"Actually I was going to ask to see if the rumors of Lord Inuyasha pledging his allegiance to a human were true." Myoga gave Naruto a panicked looked of supplication with his four arms flailing as he explained, "Not I that I mean any insult to you Naruto, I know how powerful you are but the other fleas doubt your might and some of the flea leaders' representatives have followed me to verify my claims. They just can't believe that a human can be as strong as a Daiyokai without proof you understand."

"The flea yokai were allied with Lord Inuyasha's father but some doubt  
Inuyasha's worthiness of our services and most of us agree that Lord  
Sesshomaru is too cold for us to serve him at this point, though both brothers have made recent strides in proving that they are worthy of a full alliance with us should the two of them cease their feud with one another, and it appears as though they have, if only for the moment. We all know that the late Inu-no-Taichou would have wanted for his sons to get along." The flea finished looking up at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha snorted, "Don't get too comfortable, I'm gonna have to put the prissy little prince in his place soon enough. If he keeps insulting me." Inuyasha snarled at the end.

Naruto looked to Inuyasha, "Has he said any of that in the last few days that you saw him?" He questioned with a deadpan expression.

Inuyasha looked at Naruto quizzically, curling his nose back as he wasn't able to catch the full sentence "What are you on about now?"

Naruto smiled at him knowingly and said, "Nothing, nothing." He said with a dismissive wave.

Naruto then turned to Myoga and asked, "Where are these representatives you mentioned? You'd think that people wanting to take my measure would want to meet me."

Myoga seemed to pale and straitened as if he had just remembered something important. "Naruto-sama, the flea leaders' representatives are coming to meet you. But they're going to be doing it in the form of a test. I don't know what it is but it should be starting any minute now."

* * *

**Ahead of the Caravan with One of Naruto's Clone Scouts**

The clone leapt through the trees, looking about for any potential threats to the caravan when it suddenly spotted one.

In a clearing ahead of the caravan and out of its view due to a curve in the path, were over fifty brigands dressed in battered armor that they had doubtlessly stolen from dead samurai on the battlefield.

The brigands were currently ridding toward the caravan.

The clone noticed something else. The apparent leader had a strangely blank look in his eyes, as if he were being possessed.

The clone dispersed itself.

* * *

**The Caravan**

Naruto straightened as his clone's memories filled his consciousness.  
Naruto blinked and raised an eyebrow as he realized this would be the flea's test.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked, looking worried at Naruto's anger.

Naruto didn't answer her as he addressed the caravan. "There's some  
trouble up the road. Stay here while I go take care of it," he ordered.  
He then pulled up his facemask and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the Inu gang and the soon to be Konoha villagers to reign in the pack animals.

**The Clearing**

* * *

The brigands stopped their charge as leaves began to swirl before them and a masked blond man appeared before them.

Some of the men made sounds of surprise while the dull-eyed leader merely smiled at him.

The dull-eyed brigand turned to his companions and said, "Looks like a  
lonely little Nanban (southern barbarian) is playing Ninja. I wonder if he has the skill to back it up."

He grinned and said, "Get him."

The other fifty something brigands urged their horses forward and some called Naruto names not fit for younger ears.

Naruto (idly realizing that he did indeed appear to be European) responded to their charge by tossing a few explosive tag wrapped kunai at the ground at the ground a few yards in front of them.

The tags detonated too soon for the horses to be hurt by the explosion, but Naruto had intended this for now the horses began to panic and reared back and most of the brigands fell from their mounts to the ground. The horses began to run away and Naruto watched as they trampled over some of the brigands before making a cross seal.

"Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he said, and over one hundred clones appeared and immediately moved to capture the panicking horses. 'I can smell the blood and smoke of these men. They've probably just raided a village. I could use these horses. I don't want to kill them, just the men if I have to,' Naruto thought.

As he expected, the de-horsed brigands panicked and began to run.  
"What the hell? Is he a demon?" some were saying, while others said that they'd either meet up later. Others simply cried, "I quit!" or something similar.

But the dull-eyed leader, who still sat across his horse, smiled at him again.

Naruto realized why he was smiling when the fleeing brigands stopped fleeing as their eyes went as dull as those of their leader.

The apparent leader dismounted and he along with the other dull-eyed men advanced on Naruto with their katanas drawn.

Naruto shook his head, realizing the fleas wouldn't leave him be till he beat these men fair and square.

Naruto leapt into the air above them spinning as he threw eight shuriken at the group below him. Naruto's hands flashed through some hand seals before crying "**Han Tatsumaki no Shuriken** (Half Tornado of Shuriken)."

The eight shuriken multiplied into hundreds more, traveling outward from Naruto in downward facing domelike rain of metal. The result was a great bloody mess of shuriken pincushions.

Naruto landed in the small space at center of the heap and leapt to the edge of the clearing between the slain brigands and the caravan. All of the shuriken except the original eight began to disappear in puffs of smoke.

After pulling down his facemask to reveal his face Naruto ordered,  
"Alright, come out, fleas. I can sense that I didn't hit any of you."

Little specs began hopping out of the mess of bodies and were soon grouped in front of Naruto in a triangular formation. 'Oh look, it's a flea circus,' Naruto though amusedly to himself.

The flea at the front of the triangle jumped onto the back of Naruto's  
right hand that Naruto brought up to his eye level.

Unlike Myoga, this flea wore what seemed to be a tiny suit of samurai armor. The ninja idly wondered how it was crafted.

The flea seemed to bow to Naruto in supplication before saying, "I am  
Myoto, representative of the Flea no Taichou. Please forgive us for attacking you Uzumaki Naruto-san. We had heard the Lord Inuyasha had entered your service. Myoga's claimed that you were worthy of this and that your power was comparable to that of a Daiyokai. We were, understandably skeptical of him, so we decided to test you."

Naruto looked the insect on his hand, feeling a bit like Shino, before  
replying, "I know, Myoga told me of your intentions just before I became aware of your attack."

Myoto said "Yes, we gave him permission to reveal that just before the  
test. As for what we were testing, we wanted to judge your ability to react to a situation quickly. You seemed to have been able to reach us before we thought you would, something I believe has to do with those copies you've spread through the forest."

"We were also testing your ability to judge a situation by possessing the brigands. You passed that by the way, when you attacked in spite of the possession. They were the worst sorts. They had just destroyed a village when we jumped onto them. There are survivors for you to recover if your capture of the horses is any indication of your intentions. You get extra marks for that."

Naruto looked like he agreed with the flea's logic before asking, "I get all that but why did you just get human brigands to attack me instead of using something more powerful? Weren't you trying to gauge my power as well?"

Myoto twitched his proboscis in what seemed to be annoyance before he  
replied, "We didn't want to cause a lot of collateral damage. Your power was to be judged on how easily you dealt with the brigands. While many demons could have defeated them, few would be able to do so quickly and with a single technique."

Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch as he said, "You thought Myoga was  
exaggerating weren't you."

The fleas drooped in embarrassment. Myoto replied, "That might have been a factor. We didn't want the attackers to be able to get past you to hurt your company."

Naruto beamed and said, "Thanks for your courtesy anyway." Naruto frowned as he looked at the bloody clearing. 'I'm, going to have to clean this up before I bring the caravan through here, and the scent of blood must be driving Inuyasha crazy, as well as the horses,' Naruto thought as he looked up at his clones guiding the horses back to the clearing were they began to neigh and rear slightly at the smell of their shredded former riders.

Naruto placed Myoto on the ground and stepped around the fleas. After a  
moment of thinking, 'What should I use? Normally one uses fire jutsu to  
dispose of bodies but that smells. Oh, I know.' Naruto walked over to the bodies and collected his eight shuriken before returning to the edge of the clearing.

He began to go through a series of hand seals and then slammed his  
hands onto the ground.

"**Doton Yomi Numa **(Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld)"

The ground beneath the corpses softened into a swampy bog into which the bodies sank.

When they were completely submerged in the ground Naruto canceled  
the jutsu, causing the ground to solidify again.

Now that the bodies were out of sight and the smell had lessened, the horses calmed and the clones were able to get them in order. Naruto told them to keep the horses there and wait for the caravan.

As Naruto exited the clearing to return to the caravan, he absently noticed Myoto jump onto his leg as the others left in different directions to spread  
the news.

* * *

**The Caravan**

Inuyasha growled in agitation. "Why did he tell us to stay here? There's so much blood in the air," the dog hanyou complained.

Kagome looked at him worriedly and asked, "It isn't Naruto's, is it?"

"No it isn't," Inuyasha said before he paused. "Wait a minute, the  
smell just got a lot fainter!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

Miroku looked thoughtful as he asked, "How could a smell just get fainter all the sudden?"

"It could if I just covered it up," came Naruto's voice from behind  
Miroku.

Miroku jumped and the others tensed.

Clutching his chest, Miroku spun around and yelled, "Stop doing that!"

Kagura and Kaede ignored the monk and asked, "What's going on  
Naruto-san?" the older women questioned.

Naruto grinned at them and said, "Oh, nothing much. I just had to kill  
about fifty brigands for the flea yokai leaders' test."

"What!" the Inu gang cried simultaneously.

Naruto noticed the villagers, whom had been uneasy since he left, begin to show the signs of a coming panic and spoke, "Don't worry the threat is already past. Not only have I dealt with the brigands, I've commandeered their horses."

They calmed down again and Naruto continued, "The brigands have attacked a village up ahead. So it looks like we'll be picking up our first recruits today."

The people of Kaede's village voiced their sympathy for the plight of the other village's victims. They had experienced attacks themselves, though the most recent attacks on Kaede's village were brought on by yokai not men, and those had been repelled, a fact for which they were most grateful.

They also knew that most villages didn't have guardians the likes of Naruto, Inuyasha, Kagome, and their friends. That they did was another fact for which they were grateful. It was because of this that no one voiced any objections.

Naruto cleared his voice and said, "I've already cleared the scene of the battle. My clones are waiting with the horses in the clearing up the road. Now, lets get moving again."

With that, the soon to be Konoha villagers began to pick up their packs and get the pack animals, large and small, moving again.

They passed through the clearing where Naruto's skirmish had taken place earlier and none but those of greater olfactory abilities realized anything amiss until they saw the many Naruto's mounted upon the horses that he had 'liberated' from their former owners. The clones urged their horses forward from the clearing into the forest path.

The flea, Myoto, which had remained hidden in Naruto's armor until this  
point, leapt onto the shinobi's shoulder, unintentionally mimicking Myoga whom was perching on Inuyasha's shoulder.

Myoga looked at the flea in surprise, "Cousin, what are you doing here?"

Everyone that could hear the flea's question suddenly looked between the two insect yokai in surprise, trying to see if they could identify any common features other than the obvious insect traits. It was of course a futile effort.

All they could tell was that this new flea looked younger than Myoga and that he was better dressed (they also wondered about how the fleas made such tiny armor) and had his 'hair' a traditional black topknot and traditional samurai bald spot.

Kagome leaned in to get a close look at the flea and asked, "Who are you Mr. Flea and are you really related to Myoga?" To an observer Kagome would have seemed to be speaking to a spot on Naruto's shoulder.

The flea puffed up its tiny chest and proudly said, "I am Myoto the flea and I am a representative of the high flea council. And yes I am a cousin to Myoga."

He looked to the aforementioned flea with some distaste, "Cousin, you owe me. I kept Shoga from finding out where you are right now. She gave me quite an ear full for keeping her out of this mission."

Myoga looked panicked at the thought of the female flea that was still trying to get him to marry her. "I'll pay you back, Myoto, I swear!" exclaimed Myoga.

The Inu gang's brow's twitched as they remembered that particular  
adventure.

* * *

**Iga Province – Training Ground**

Hatori Hanzo looked at the sword in his hand. He was more of a spearman, but the scaled weapon could serve him well.

He wore the traditional loose black body suit worn by shinobi. The shinobi was young, only seventeen, yet he had been in his first true battle less than year ago. He had killed many men that day and was recognized even more for his prodigious skills by the rest of the Iga clan's ninja.

The already Master Ninja of Iga thought back to how he had acquired the Jian sword.

_Hanzo was running though several Hozoin-ryu katas when he sensed the presence of an apprentice level ninja to his left. He could tell their skill level by how far they were from him when he noticed them._

_He turned to face the boy and saw that he was an Iga-nin, and that he was carrying a cloth wrapped sword, a straight bladed sword with a hilt that appeared to be covered in large reptilian scales. _

_The boy ran to Hanzo and held the sword up for his inspection._

"_Hanzo-sama, my comrade and I were resting after training when he stood up and said that he noticed a glow in the sky to the north. And then… this sword fell from the northern sky. It ran him through and drove him into the ground." _

"_He did not survive, I'm sorry to say. I saw that there were no enemies near and so I drew the blade to inspect it. Then I realized that this sword was too much for a mere apprentice like myself. This sword belongs in the hands of a strong shinobi like yourself."_

_Hanzo gazed at the boy evenly before asking, "Boy, what is your name?"_

_The apprentice looked up at him, as if surprised that the man wanted to know the name of such a lowly ninja as he, before answering Hanzo before he could get annoyed, "Maki sir."_

_Hanzo scowled at him, "Maki, why did you bring me this sword instead of reporting your comrade's death to your superior officer and turning in that blade for inspection by our clan's priests?" _

_Hanzo snatched the sword away from the boy with his right hand, making sure to hold it by the cloth and not to make direct skin contact with the weapon. _

_Maki looked horrified as he realized that he had indeed violated proper shinobi protocols and wondered why he hadn't done what Hanzo-sama had said he should have done. He knew the rules and he knew them by heart... why had he disregarded them so?_

_Hanzo slapped him to get his attention. "Come with me now. I'm going to turn you into the trainers for your punishment. I'll tell them to go easy on you if it is found that this weapon was affecting your judgment."_

Hanzo thought to what the head priest had told him about the jian sword after he had turned in the errant apprentice and gone to the shrine to have the blade inspected.

_The priest looked at Hanzo and shook his head, "This sword is not possessed by either demon or spirit. It seems however to possess the essence of a person in much the same way the legends say a blade forged by the great Muramasa was able to imbue every blade he made with the essence of someone's soul, or the way a blade can take in the essence of it's wielder." _

"_Either way, the blade gains a will of its own. Because of this, it is not too unbelievable to believe this blade could have influenced the child of Iga... Such a blade can only subtly suggest an action to the one that holds it. But the suggestion is a strong one, most especially to an undisciplined mind."_

_"And what does the sword suggest then?" Hanzo questioned._

_The priest thought for a moment before he replied. "The sword may give a worthy warrior a suggestion as to how to wield it. At worst, the sword will give faulty suggestions to someone it finds unworthy in order to get them killed so the blade can be wielded by another. I imagine that the boy that brought this to you received a suggestion to give the sword to a stronger warrior and he thought of you."_

_Hanzo straightened and said, "It looks like I'll have to get the boy's superiors to go easy on him after all."_

"_Indeed," said the priest, and then he frowned. "There are a few things about this that do bother me though. The first is the fact that this blade killed one of our ninja by falling from the sky."_

"_The other is that this sword is made from demon parts, a large snake yokai I believe, which is rare. And I've never heard of a sword like this being imbued with a human's essence. Yet it doesn't seem to have any demonic aura at all. It seems to have a human aura, but one stronger than a human's. This probably once belonged to a great warrior. Its aura is rather fierce."_

_The priest then handed the wrapped blade back to Hanzo and said, "I believe that you should be the one to wield this sword. Just be careful, and tell me if anything strange should happen when you are using it."_

_Hanzo took the weapon with a bow. _

"_I will," the shinobi replied before making his exit from the shrine. _

'_I don't know the blade's actual name. What shall I call it?' he  
asked himself. _

_What the priest said came back to him. _

"_I shall call you '__Kiba__ no __Hebi__Fang of __Snake)," he said to the sword._  
_  
Hanzo felt a sense of acceptance from the blade at the name._

Hanzo ceased his musings as he suddenly heard many screams off in the distance.

He stood, tightening his grip on the blade before he rushed out of the training site's clearing. Soon enough he found several of his clan ninja facing a Yokai, lizard by the looks of it.

Hanzo reached into his side pouch and with a snap of his wrist, threw three shuriken at the demon. They bounced off its tough hide, bringing the beast's attention to him.

The Hebi no Kiba pulsed in Hanzo's hand. 'You wish to be used,' Hanzo  
idly though to he sword.

As the creature launched itself at him, Hanzo ignored his fellow ninja's shouts to get out of the way, before he lifted the sword as he quickly stepped to the side and swung the blade in a horizontal arc.

It passed through the hard scales of the reptile with little resistance.

Hanzo felt a surge of new strength fill him as the blade parted the lizard's head and shoulders from the rest of its body. Blood splattered on the right side of his body as the lizard's parts fell to the ground.

Hanzo took a closer look at the demon and realized that it had been a  
salamander yokai.

Hanzo slid the Kiba no Hebi back into the loose cloth he'd been using as a sheath.

Looking to the now dead salamander he spoke.

"Carve out its bones, and make them into a proper sheathe for my new blade," He ordered, and at the ninja's nods he turned and began making his way back home.

The thought of reporting to the clan priests the sword's messages, and most of all, the surge or power he felt come from the blade when he had killed the yokai never once crossing his mind.

* * *

TBC

Please Review, and at least make it a little detailed, please.

AN:

-Yes Myoga is back, something that was missing from the first NOTS. The idea of a flea gossip/spy network may seem weird to you but it makes sense when you think about it. The fleas, being so small, and lacking any real battle power of their own except the ability to possess others, could only talk about what goes on in the world about them. Why do you think they are allied with the dog demons anyway?

-That's right, the Kusanagi is not Orochimaru but an impression of him.  
There's more to it than there seems, as you'll find out later.

**Jutsu List**:

**Han Tatsumaki no Shuriken** (Half Tornado of Shuriken): This jutsu makes shadow shuriken that fly out in a 180 degree or less spread from the user. This is a variant of the Tatsumaki no Shuriken (Tornado of Shuriken), which itself is a variant of the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu, which is was featured as the Shuriken no Tatsumaki in Rise to Power, by crashtestdummy. That jutsu throws the shuriken in all direction from the user.


End file.
